New York

Architecture
06/19/13 3:00pm

Own a Tile of + POOL, A Giant Filtering Floating Pool in the East River

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New York
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+ POOL-NYC-East River-Filtering Pool

+ POOL, a proposed floating pool whose walls will filter millions of gallons of the East River daily, is all the rage with New Yorkers now as its Kickstarter gets over 40% funded in the past week. This isn’t their first Kickstarter either, with a campaign two years ago yielding $41,000 in under a week. These funds were used to perform filtration testing in the East River, with great results:

We tested 19 different parameters for 10 weeks under the guidance of researchers from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University and saw a huge reduction in contaminants across all counts.  The materials even cleaned on the worst days, right after big storms, proving that + POOL is starting to work.

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Events
06/19/13 2:00pm

Moses Gates Leads 14-Mile Walk of Least Diverse to Most Diverse Census Tracts in NYC

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New York
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Last fall we explored the largest Census tract in New York City, Co-Op City with Hidden Cities author, Moses Gates. This Sunday June 23rd at 11:45am, he’ll be leading a 14 mile walk from the least diverse to the most diverse Census Tract in the five boroughs. The tour is long, but we can vouch that a day spent with Moses is well worth it–his knowledge of New York City (and cities around the world) is immense and entertaining.

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Architecture
06/19/13 2:00pm

Hidden Cities author, Moses Gates, Talks Catacombs with Untapped Cities

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New York, Paris
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Paris Catacombs-Ronald McDonald-Statue-Moses Gates-Hidden Cities-Untapped CitiesMoses Gates reports on fun finds inside the Paris catacombs

Last fall we explored with Hidden Cities author, Moses Gates, in the largest Census tract in New York City, Co-Op City. Following the release of his book Hidden Cities, Moses became well-known for his exploration of the top of the Chrysler Building and supporting the re-opening of observations decks in New York City, now closed to the public.

But before this, Moses was known as a cataphile and urban explorer, with his vast experience in the underworld with Steve Duncan of UnderCity. As a follow-up to our roundup of catacombs around the world, we asked Moses some fun questions about his time in the catacombs:

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Architecture
06/19/13 11:00am

2013 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places from the National Trust for Historic Preservation

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New York
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Worldport JFK Terminal 3-Delta-Pan Am

The National Trust for Historical Preservation announces its 2013 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Places today via live Twitter chat at 11am. Follow the action on Twitter at @presnation and join the conversation using the hashtag #savingplaces 

Worldport Terminal at JFK Airport – Jamaica, New York. The distinctive flying-saucer-shaped Worldport Terminal at New York’s JFK Airport has been a symbol of the Jet Age since it first opened in 1960, but now sits empty and unused, waiting for a creative reuse plan. Unlike the famous TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport, Worldport lacks landmark status due to the number of alterations to the building over the years.

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Featured
06/19/13 9:00am

Kykuit: The Rockefellers’ Gilded Age Gem in the Hudson River Valley

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New York, Urban Getaway
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Kykuit-Untapped Cities-David Jo-003

Once a favorite haunt of America’s illustrious industrialists (and to an extent it still is), the great Hudson River Valley estates stand as a testament to the bygone Gilded Age as popularized by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. While not as well known as the Gold Coast Mansions along Long Island Sound, the imposing Palisades and majestic Hudson River Valley that straddle New Jersey and upstate New York captured the imagination of the foremost industrialist of all, the first American billionaire and founder of Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller.  (more…)

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Architecture
06/19/13 8:00am

Daily What?! Nap Pods in the Empire State Building

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New York
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sleeppodsNYC

The MetroNaps facility on the 24th floor of the Empire State Building. Source: NY Times.

For all the talk about NYC being the city that never sleeps, we were surprised (and delighted) when we discovered that there’s an entire floor of “nap pods” in the Empire State Building. At MetroNaps on the 24th floor, tired New Yorkers can kick back in a space-ship-like chair to catch some much-needed zzz’s in twenty minute intervals.  (more…)

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